Website: European Council for Non-profit Organisations (CEDAG)

CEDAG - The European Council for Non-profit Organisations (Comité européen des associations d’intérêt général), was created in Brussels in 1989 (incorporated in 1996) by a number of associations, civil society organisations and umbrella organizations from various EU Member States.

It was established as a network to provide the voice for the non-profit sector at the European level on specific issues which are common to all non-profit organisations and associations. For many years CEDAG has followed the policy development in the area of social policy, but over the
last few years this focus area has been prioritised even further.

CEDAG’s members are national and regional umbrella bodies, involved in social fields of activities like education, citizenship, culture, social and health issues, environmental issues, consumer protection and sport, uniting a big number of organisations with millions individual members and taking into account the informal networks with the new Member States, this number can be
multiplied further. This specific membership group works actively on policy development in both the social policy and civil dialogue fields.

With a new and more diversified membership and a very strong commitment by its board, CEDAG is renewed, re-structured and more focused than before. CEDAG’s uniqueness is that it currently is the only European network which represents national overarching or sector-wide umbrellas and that it is mainly run by its national members. This allows for a quicker and more direct link to the national implementation of EU policy initiatives and in return concrete examples and input
of the effects of EU policy on the local, regional and national level.

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